


The Consequences

by guardianofdust



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Human Jack Frost, Multi, rainbow snowcone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-03 17:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4109461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guardianofdust/pseuds/guardianofdust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That night, Jack can never stop thinking about that night, where everything he knew changed. After four years on his own he finds a girl about his age trapped. Not only is she hopelessly lost but she keeps claiming that there's a safe place to get to away from all the zombies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Screams

There were screams from outside, He failed to understand what was happening but clutched his sister tighter as they sat cuddling on their couch. He wanted to pull back the curtains but was so afraid of leaving his sister that he buried his face in his neck. A couple minutes seemed to pass with the present screams getting even louder.

“Jack?” He heard his sister ask and Jack lifted his head to look at her. There were tears littering her eyes and she looked petrified. 

“What?” The thirteen year old responded making his grip on his sister even tighter.

“Will Mom come back?” 

Jack fought back tears, his mother had gone out about half an hour ago saying that she was going to investigate when the first scream had happened outside. She still hadn’t come back and Jack was getting really worried. 

“I’m sure.” Jack replied bluntly but he was unsure of that statement himself however the words seemed to comfort Emma as he wiped the tears away from her eyes.

“What’s going on outside?” She pondered looking in the direction of the curtains.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. Even though he desperately wanted to know, he was going to keep Emma safe ;at the moment she was his top priority. “Nothing, good but it’ll be okay.”

He ran his fingers through her soft brown hair and gave her the biggest smile that he could manage. “Mom will come back soon, then we’ll have a quiet night in front of the tv. Head to bed and get up for another day of learning, I bet there’s been a crash or something. Everything will be fine in the morning.” 

“Yeah, everything will be fine in the morning.” Emma murmmed and she gave Jack the brightest smile she could manage. Jack smiled back but the smile did not reach his eyes, whilst Emma seemed to believe his words, he didn’t. He was trying to lull himself into a false sense of security but he knew that something was wrong and it was to with whatever was happening outside. 

However Jack would never have never been able to predict what happened next.

There was a bright gleam from the window and almost a moment later a car came crashing through the living room window. As soon as Jack heard the wheels screeching he grabbed Emma and he fell to the floor, rolling away from the car. 

He coughed a little and looked at the bricks and dust that had fallen to the ground where the car had crashed. It had managed to completely obliterate their window, Jack could see the signs of broken glass everywhere. He stood up and tried to look at the driver of the car, he could make out a figure slumped across the driving wheel. He didn’t want to look any closer. He didn’t understand how this could have happened but they needed to find help. 

“Is she dead?” Emma whispered in fear voicing the words that Jack didn’t want to put into the air but she did. “Should we look?”

Jack shook his head. “No, don’t mess with her. We’ll have to go outside and find some to help her, come on.” He offered his hand and Emma took it as they navigated their way through the falling debris. 

When they reached the hole in the wall, the screams from outside had become louder and Jack could see figures running the hazy dust and people were falling over, stumbling as the other figures seemed to attack them.

Jack didn’t know what was going on but he wanted to shield Emma’s eyes. She was only eight years old. What had happened?

As they clambered though the falling bricks and came out on the other side, there were bright gleams of orange and red burning on crashed cars. There were a few bodies on the floor and Jack tried stifle the scream that he felt rising in his throat. He watched as dark tall silhouettes passed by him, heading towards the edge of town. He wanted to ask them what was going on but each time he tried to reach for their arm, they looked at him and moved his arm off them before taking off even quicker.

“Jack, I’m scared.” Emma cried gripping onto Jack’s hand tightly.

“I know, I know. I’m going to get you somewhere safe.” Jack squeezed her hand. He was so scared but he couldn’t show that he was scared. He had to be brave for Emma.

“Jackson? Emma? Is that you?” A familiar voice suddenly asked and Jack turned to see his neighbour walking through the hazy fog. 

Mrs Edwards looked like she had been to hell and back. Her blonde hair was a wild birds nest, there were several cuts across their face and her dress was a ragged mess.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked looking around as more people screamed.

“This world, people are attacking each other, I don’t understand myself but we need to get you two out of here before you get attacked.”

People were attacking each other but how? And Jack couldn’t leave!

“We can’t leave, there’s a woman she needs help! She crashed her car and what about my mother?” Jack protested.

Mrs Edwards shook her head. “Your mother and that woman are as good as dead.” 

Before Jack could argue she grabbed his hand and began to pull him through the streets of his home-town. He didn’t know how long he ran for or how many times he tried to escape from her grasp but the woman was several inches taller than him and seemed to how a vice like grip.

As they ran, Jack could see things chasing after people and could see blood scouted across their faces. They looked like zombies and Jack slowly began to peace things together. He saw a creature tear after a young boy. Zombies. People were becoming zombies, everything seemed to becoming a blur. Zombies weren’t supposed to exist, they were supposed to be things in video games or fiction. They weren’t supposed to be real.

He wasn’t sure why none came after them, perhaps because they were too occupied with the screams of the dying.

They soon came to the edge of town where a lot of more debris from the house had fallen. There was a building on fire, the flames licking through the structure and that horrible gleam of orange. There was a large sycamore tree stood in front that was shaking in the strong wind that was beginning to blow and there were slight splinters in the wood. 

“What are we doing, Jack?” Emma asked, she had been oddly quiet following after her brother and her neighbour but she trusted her brother, she thought that they were going to get help. 

Mrs Edwards seemed to be looking around for something whilst still keeping her tight grip on Jack’s hand. He tried to fidget again wanting to run back to find his mother.

“Mrs Edwards, let me go!” He cried and Emma looked at him confused. She thought that Mrs Edwards was helping him.

“Jackson, no. Your mother’s not here, I need to keep you safe. She made me promise if that anything bad happened that I would get you to safety but I can’t find any cars around here.” 

Just as she mentioned cars, a red pick up truck came barrelling through but stopped when the driver saw the three figures on the road. 

He opened the door and stepped out. Jack could see that he looked no older than eighteen.

“You want a lift out of this godforsaken town?” The guy asked. “You’re the first survivors I’ve ran into, heard there was an military checkpoint, we’d better hurry.”

“Yes.” Mrs Edwards reply. “Now come on children, we need to get you in.”

The guy got back into the driver’s seat whilst Mrs Edwards turned to Jack, she looked sad.

“I know you don’t know what’s going on but we’ll find out what the hell happened. Pass me Emma, Jack she can go in first.”

Jack nodded knowing that he needed to get out of his town. If what Mrs Edwards said was true then he would do it for his mother’s sake. He picked Emma up and lifted her to the woman who placed her into the car. He was about to climb in too when he heard the tree begin to fall. 

“Go! Just go and leave me!” He shouted as the wind began to rage even more and the sky became an overbearing grey.

The tree began to fall and Jack could hear a soft cry of Emma calling his name. It would be too late to move out of the trees way but as long as Emma was safe. He would happy to die for her, Mrs Edwards would get her to safety, he had trust of that.

The last thing that he heard was the truck driving off and the tree falling, falling before he became surrounded by darkness.


	2. A Girl

A Girl

Jack woke up with a start taking deep breaths and reached for the gun just by him. He scoured his surroundings but nothing had changed, the camp still looked the same. The fence perimeters were in check, the barbed wire was still protecting him from the monsters that had taken his family away from him. 

“Just a dream.” He muttered even though it was an old memory now.

He double checked the fire, seeing the charred remains of the logs that he had collected yesterday and sighed, he must of have fallen asleep before the last flames had died. Every day was the same endless struggle to survive. 

He sighed and stretched his arms, staring at the early morning sky that was a misty blue as the sun gently rose, His stomach grumbled and he reached for his rucksack, scouting around through the objects for food. As his fingers grabbed through knifes and pieces of strings, Jack could not find any food. Did that mean his reserves had already run out? He had thought he had managed to save everything from the previous town?

Jack groaned, he hated gathering food when he had to venture out into the towns that he visited. It was a great risk but he had to do it. Even after four years since everything had gone to shit, the monsters still scared him. He got up to his feet and grabbed his rucksack but he couldn’t forget his most important asset. The gun had been with him since the beginning, he wouldn’t know what to do if he lost it. 

He clutched the rifle and took one last glance at his campsite. It wasn’t exactly the best one he had but it had lasted the week since he had arrived in the town. It must have once been a scarp yard if there was anything to go by the barbed wire and giant gate that loomed before him. Jack had made use of the old wood to make his fire but there was none left.

He began to walk towards the building where a small rickety ladder sat and he began to clamber over up and it over the roof of a few buildings. From here he could get a good vantage point of the town. 

Most of the zombies were aimlessly walking around occasionally groaning and bumping into each other but once they got the smell of blood, they were a deadly machine. Jack had seen plenty of people eaten or turned over the past few years, luckily none close to him, it only took one bite and your whole life was gone. 

Jack had managed to survive all this time by three rules. The 1st rule was to always made sure that you had food and water, the 2nd rule was to not trust anyone and the third and final rule was never to make friends or relationships, you had to look after yourself. These rules had resulted from all the situations he had gotten into throughout the years, even from the moment he had lost his sister. Yes, he had lost her but he had to hope that she was alive out there.

He looked over at the town’s surroundings, there was a large mall that looked promising, even if some of the food had been outdated, he might have been able to get some medicine supplies. Taking a deep breath, he began to clamber down, this was always the riskiest bit. 

He began to dart across the sides, looking for a clear path. The creatures stumbled stubbornly, moaning and Jack noticed that it looked like there was going to be a gap that he was going to slip through. He couldn’t risk shooting his gun at them so this was his only chance or else he was screwed.

Seeing the slight gap between the hoards, Jack darted past as quick as bullet. He looked back and blinked in surprise, they hadn’t even noticed him.   
Looking back up at the mall, he noticed that there was a smashed window onto the second floor, he just had to climb up the building. He had run into an alleyway but there was no trash cans to stand on, he would have to give it a running start. 

Taking a few steps back to the alley walls he took a running start, hitting the walls as he started to jump ip and managed to scramble onto the building, his fingers clutching the window ledge. He begun to lift himself through the broken window, knocking a few glass shards about and entered the building. 

He took a quick glance of his surroundings and saw that there seemed to be no zombies about but got his rifle from around his back and placed in in his hands, it was better to be safe than sorry. 

As he began to walk, he took note of more smashed windows and the shops, they didn’t look promising, he didn’t need any spare clothes. The old torn pants and hoodie would do him just fine until they got too dirty to wear. 

After taking about half an hour to scour the top floor from top to bottom, Jack had managed to find some medical supplies such as a few bandages and medicines but he had found no food. He would have to get go on the second floor, something that he didn’t really want to risk but he was starving. He needed to get something, he didn’t even care if it tasted awful. 

Just when he was about to walk down the escalator, there was a large bang as if something had fallen and then a cry. 

“Help!” The voice shrieked. Jack grimaced, he hadn’t thought there were any survivors, when he had come into town, it had seemed empty and desolate of life except for the zombiefied residents. 

“Remember the rules, Jack. Remember the rules, you can’t help them. They’re going to attract zombies, that might be your chance to escape because at this rate, that person is going to get eaten.”

“Someone please help!” The voice screamed again and Jack bit back a growl of frustration. He banged his fist on the escalator but began to run. He was breaking one of his rules, if he got killed for this he would kill the person in the after life, if there was an after life. 

There was another shout and Jack took after the sound, he ran down hallways and hallways until he reached a shop. It looked like it had once been a cheap grocery store but Jack glanced on the floor and saw a figure trapped by bits of rubble. It looked like a young girl but there wasn’t much light and he couldn’t see her face very clearly except for a few shafts of light. 

“Help!” The figure screamed again and Jack growled as he got closer to her. She was crying and just staring at the floor.

“Stop screaming! Do you want to kill us both?” Jack whispered furiously at the girl and she whipped her head up. Tears were streaming down her face but a small smile played on her lips as she looked up at Jack.

“But if I hadn’t screamed, then you wouldn’t have come to my rescue.” The girl replied sniffling a little. 

“Right. We need to get you out from that rubble, can your move your legs?” Jack asked, crouching down.

The girl tried to get up and move her legs but she was struggling and Jack growled. He slung his rifle back onto his back. He already felt defenceless without it. 

“So that’s a no. I don’t know how long we have but we have to get out of here.” Jack began to move the rubble as it fell. He wanted to know how everything had happened but he needed to get the girl out and back to the base camp. 

He moved pieces of rock and bits of glass and hauled a large rock of one of the girl’s legs. He could see that it was twisted. Jack growled again, he was going to have to carry the girl.

“You’re injured, I’m going to have to carry you.” Jack mumbled.

The girl just nodded and Jack scooped her up in his arms. She was very petite and felt quite light.

Jack was about to start walking away.

“Wait! My backpack it’s in the rubble somewhere!” She cried.

“We haven’t got time for that! We need to go!”

“No! Please, I can’t let that backpack leave my sight, it’s got to be in the rubble! She began to wriggle around in Jack’s arms, her hands reaching out in the rubble, moving over rocks. 

“Would you stop moving! I’ll find it!” Jack shouted in more frustration and put the girl down. 

“I think it’s near the back.” The girl pointed to another pile of rubble and Jack headed over there, fingers pulling out at the rocks and he finally managed to find a rusty green and purple backpack. 

“I’ll have to carry it.” Jack said as he swung it over his other one. The backpack felt heavy and he wondered what the girl could possibly carry in it. It was always to carry light.

He walked back over to the girl and once again had in his arms, in the dim light he could just make out that she had dark skin but he couldn’t be too sure.

As he started to make his way back into the hallway, there was the worrying sounds of groans and mumbles. Suddenly there was shattering glass and Jack knew that they were screwed.

“The rooftop! We need to get to the rooftop!” The girl cried and Jack began to run. He knew, he knew that he shouldn’t have broken one of his rules! 

“Fine.” Jack huffed and began to sprint up the escalators. “I don’t know how we’re going to get up there.”

“Wish I could help, but I’m immobile at the moment.” 

“Yeah, I didn’t figure that myself out, thanks.” Jack mumbled and carried on running but he swore the groans were getting louder. He was starting to tired from carrying the girl (no matter how light she was) and two backpacks that he didn’t know how much further he could keep going. 

“On your left, there’s going to be a few flights of stairs, they lead onto the roof.” The girl mentioned and pointed to an small emergency exit. 

Jack took no chances and barrelled through the door, he focused on getting up the stairs and onto the roof. For a couple of minutes all that could be heard was Jack’s breathing as he ran up the stairs. 

Soon he got to another door and bust through it, he placed the girl on the ground, took the backpacks off his shoulders and quickly went to the door and made sure to lock it tight.

“Y’know that door’s not going to hold for long, we’re not exactly safe here.” The girl said as Jack turned around. 

“I know, it just gives us time to get your wounds bandaged up and then we can figure out, what we’re doing from then.” Jack replied and he could finally see the girl for the first time in the morning air.

She was very short, which he had expected before and had long thick black hair that had been tied up in a braid. Her skin was dark and her eyes were a bright purple which he found alarming but didn’t question it. She was wearing a ragged pair of jeans and t-shirt that looked like they weren’t going to last her the next couple of days.

He went over to his bag and got the bandages out. The girl rolled up her leg to reveal several large bruises but there was a nasty gash across her leg. Jack began to roll the bandages over, even though he had no ointment to smooth it over first. The girl winced a few times but smiled once Jack had finished and moved away.

“Thank you and thank you for rescuing me, I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up.” She said.

Jack frowned. “Well, I don’t make a habit out of it and you should really be more careful.”

The girl bit her lip before nodding. “Yeah I will. I just realised that I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s Jack.” He replied.

“Well mine’s Tooth!” She said with another grin.

“Tooth?” Jack asked raising an eyebrow.


	3. Escape

Escape

Tooth shrugged her shoulders. "Well what can I say? My parents were dentists and they might have liked teeth a little too much!" She laughed and to Jack's surprise it sounded joyful. He had noted the 'were' but wouldn't address it. He didn't know how she talked about her parents so easily, he couldn't even think about his family. He didn't even know what had happened to his mother.

"We don't have long." Jack muttered eyeing the door as if he expected it to start banging at any given moment.

"I know we need to get out of here but it's going to be difficult especially since you'll have to carry me." Tooth said looking around at the different rooftops of the buildings.

Jack tutted. He wondered if he had just stayed in the camp this morning or chosen somewhere else to look for food, he wouldn't be in this mess.

"Well I would love to know how we're going to get out of here without being eaten alive." Jack frowned as he noticed Tooth's smile widening.

"You're very negative aren't you?" She joked. "Can you pass me my bag?" She asked, her hands reaching for it. Jack picked it up off the ground where it had been sitting and passed it to her.

"I hope whatever you've got in there was worth me risking my life." Jack said crossing his arms. His eyes were still glancing over to the door and he knew that the clock was ticking.

"Trust me I think you're going to like this." Tooth replied as she started to unzip the bag. There were a few noises as she rustled around and she pulled out a sliver grappling hook.

He looked at her with shock. "Now where on earth did you get a grappling hook from?" He asked, he hadn't seen one of them for years.

"I have my ways," Tooth smiled. "Now since I can't move, I think you're going to have to be the one to throw it. Find a place where it's a bit quiet away from the hoards of zombies and we should be able to make a clean getaway. That's the best thing we're aiming for but we need to get to the ground first."

"You say that like it's a piece of cake, I don't even know how to use a grappling hook." Jack exclaimed looking at it in her hand. However it was a way out and hopefully the two of them could part ways and he could go back to his solitude of existence.

"I'll tell you how to use it or else I would do it. I can't exactly move." Tooth gestured to her leg and Jack nodded as he walked over and took the grappling hook out of her hands. It felt heavy and he wondered if this was the reason why her backpack was so heavy.

He walked over to the edge of the rooftop and looked around at the roads below. It was teeming with zombies on them but there was a small narrow gap where there weren't any by an old fast food restaurant. It was the best chance they had.

"Okay I can see a gap so you'd better show me how to work this thing." Jack turned his head over to Tooth and she nodded.

She told him the instructions about placing the hook at the top of the building and to hang the rope down. It was a long piece of rope that went all the way down to the floor but Jack wasn't sure if it was going to hold their weight.

"I really wish you could use your leg." Jack said as he walked back over to her.

"Me too, I really don't like being a burden. Once we've got down there I'm sure we'll be able to part ways. I have friends waiting for me. We're leaving for the North. It's supposed to be safe there with a new society being built or at least that what the rumours are saying according to my friends."

Jack gathered the bags back up before propping himself next to Tooth so she could clamber onto his back. She had picked up his rifle and slung it over her. He stood up and grunted. Everything was so heavy but it was a good thing he had a good pain threshold.

He started to climb down the road steading his hands as he did so and making sure that he didn't drop Tooth. She was clinging to his shoulders for dear life and it was really killing him as he started to move down. It was a gruelling five minute climb back down but soon they were on the ground. He rested for a bit before pulling the grappling hook down. However he hadn't expected it to make a large bang.

The zombies all groaned and turned towards the source of the noise and they started to move, clambering over each other to get to the fresh meat that had just presented itself.

"Jack! Leave the grappling hook and just run!" Tooth screamed. She didn't need to tell him twice as Jack began to bolt towards the fast food restaurant. He began to pant and started to slow down but he had to move, he had to move, the zombies were gaining on him.

He pushed through the zombies as they tried to grab at him. He was quite thankful for the hoodie he was wearing, the sleeves were long so that they protected his arms a little bit. A couple of minutes later, he pushed the doors open of the fast food restaurant. The place inside was trashed and the tables and chairs were all over the place. Jack placed Tooth on the floor and shut the doors behind him. He started to grab the chairs and tables, barricading the two of them in. The pile was about as tall as him when he was finished and he collapsed on the floor in a heap.

"Today has not been good." He muttered as he looked across at Tooth.

"Tell me about it. I can't wait to get back to my friends, they have a car." Tooth said leaning back against one of the tables that was glued to the floor.

"A car?" Jack asked. "I haven't seen one of them running for years."

"Well let's just say finding gas was the only real problem we had. North was good with a shotgun." Tooth reminisced.

"So how come you're split up now?" Jack questioned.

Tooth looked at the floor. "I'd rather not talk about it but they should be on the outskirts of town waiting for me, the sooner I get to them. The sooner I'm safe."

"Right. Well you're going to have to let me take you, you can't exactly walk with that leg. I just hope it doesn't need stitches."

"I won't but who knows my leg might be better in the morning."

At that moment Jack's stomach grumbled. After everything had happened, he had momentarily forgotten that he gone in the search for food but now that the danger was gone, he realised that he had nothing to eat or drink all day.

"I don't suppose you have any food or water in that bag of yours?" Jack asked.

Tooth smiled. "I actually do." She went into her bag and brought out a bottle of water and a can of peaches. She rolled them over to Jack and he thanked her.

He got out his small knife and cut open the can and dug his fingers in. The peaches were sloppy and wet but Jack didn't care. He relished them as he dropped them into his mouth. He hadn't tasted anything so good, usually he had scraps of things he food. Once he had finished the peaches, he gulped down the bottle of the water and placed it down on the ground. He sat down and rested his head on the wall.

"Where did you get that food from?" He queried.

"Before you found me there was some food in that shop and plenty of it. I shoved as much as I could into my bag but I hadn't been expecting for the place to collapse on me. I wouldn't be in this mess if I hadn't…" She buried her head into her hands but Jack didn't pry. He would get her to her friends and then they could part ways.

"Well we're not going anywhere yet, I think we should wait until night to get moving. It'll be a lot quieter and they won't be able to see us. You should get some rest because I don't know how long it's going to take to get out of town."

Tooth nodded and lay her head on the floor. "I'll try and get some rest. You should get some rest too Jack."

Jack didn't reply but just watched as she closed her eyes. He was going to keep watch.

Looking over at Tooth, it made him wonder about his sister. Where was she? Was she still safe? Was she even still alive? He thought about the memory that had become his dream last night. He had sacrificed himself for her. He wondered if he had died that day, would it have been easier? He wouldn't be suffering in the broken world that he lived in. He shook his head, he shouldn't let his mind wander too much about the past. His own sister probably wouldn't even recognise him anymore, so much had happened over the past four years that he wasn't even the same person he was back then.

Maybe closing his eyes for a few minutes wouldn't be too bad. He felt himself drifting away and by accident he fell asleep.

...

Suddenly Jack bolted awake to see Tooth staring right at his face. She noticed that he was awake and she jolted back as quickly as she could on her injured leg. He frowned.

"I fell asleep? Why were you looking at me?" Jack asked, furrowing his brow.

"You were moaning in your sleep. Something about someone called 'Emma'. I was just checking you were okay, sorry for bothering you." Tooth mumbled.

"No it's okay." Jack replied remembering the dream about his sister's birthday that he had just had. He turned his head to look outside and noticed that it was dark already. "We should get moving."

"Yeah." Tooth agreed and she got the bags ready to go.

Once they were ready, Tooth got onto her position onto Jack's back and he moved his barricade from the door as silently as possible. It was a bit difficult because they still made a bit of noise. Jack held onto hope that their escape would be silent. When the barricade was moved, he slipped through onto the street. It was quite quiet and most of the zombies had moved on further onto the road so Jack started to take off in a sprint towards the edge of town.

For the most part the journey was quite uneventful apart from a few times where they had to dodge the zombies, they made it to the edge of town quite unscathed. They didn't make conversation both weary of the danger they were in if they made any noise.

When they reached the edge of town where only a few buildings remained before it become a forest and the road stretched out before them. Jack let Tooth down and passed her bag.

"So I guess this is goodbye." He said with a nod.

He reached out his hand and helped Tooth to her feet. She shook his hand and then started to limp over to one of the buildings. "They should be around here somewhere, thank you Jack." She called.

Jack watched her go with a frown before stretching his arms. "Well that's that." He muttered. He looked at the road ahead of him and sighed. "I guess it's time to move onto the next town then."

He started to walk down the road when he heard Tooth shout his name. He turned back around to see her limping back towards him.

"What is it?" He asked, annoyed.

"My friends, they're gone…" Tooth trailed off.


	4. Companionship

Companionship 

“Gone, what do you mean gone?” Jack asked.

“I went to look into their camp but the car’s not there, there’s no tents either just trash.” Tooth replied, avoiding Jack’s gaze. 

“Is this some sort of trick?” Jack said standing tall. He had thought that she had been different but had she just been using him? Were her friends lying in wait to steal his supplies? 

“No, what are you talking about?” Tooth asked, this time she looked at him. Her eyes were swollen and tears were still flowing. Jack felt like crying with her too then. He had never seen anyone look so lost, it reminded him of his past self just after the zombies had arrived. However he was still unsure, this could be still a ruse! She was acting, he was sure of it! Why would she come back to him? Nobody ever came back to him. 

“A trick. You’re friends are waiting to ambush me aren’t they?” He spun around looking over at the bushes. “Well I’m waiting! Come and get me you fuckers!” He shouted breathing heavy. If it was a fight they wanted, they were going to get one! 

Nobody came screaming out of the bushes. It was quiet, the same eerie quiet it had been for four years. The only real sound came from Tooth hobbling over to him. Jack let her come close to him, he wanted to see if they were still waiting for their chance.

Tooth looked up at him and sighed, she reached up and cupped his cheek. Jack tried to flinch away but Tooth kept her hand cupped onto him.

“Jack,” She let out a deep breath. “Nobody’s going to attack you. I’m not pulling any tricks, you can come back with me and check the campsite for yourself. I don’t know what’s with the sudden change of attitude and I’m judging by the reactions you’re not going to tell me. All I’m asking that you believe in me.” 

Jack was quiet for a few moments and then with the two of them standing on that dirty dusty road with the morning sun glaring down on them, Tooth her hand still on Jack’s cheek, Jack made a choice. He looked down and nodded. “Okay I will.” He had broke another one of his rules.

“See? That wasn’t so bad! You do need to be more trusting of people. My friends would never ambush you anyway! They are some of the loveliest people I met. Of course I didn’t know them before everything started but they’ve helped me so much. So I just don’t understand why they would leave. Or maybe it did affect them that much…” Tooth sighed, wiping a few tears away with her hand. She had now moved away from Jack and her back was facing him. 

“Maybe they left clues at the campsite, it might explain where they went. If you say you were as close as you were then there must have been a very drastic reason as to why they left you behind.” 

“I don’t know Jack. After the way I treated them, I don’t think anyone would want to talk to me again.”

“Would you tell me what happened?” Jack asked, wishing that he could put his hand on her shoulder. He wanted to comfort her but he couldn’t. He still needed to protect his third and final rule. He would not allow himself to get close to her. He may have chosen to trust her but he was still going to distant himself from her. She didn’t need to know about him, he wasn’t important. 

“I guess I should, I did ask you to believe in me. So I might as well tell you the whole truth.” Tooth turned around and smiled a sad smile that Jack thought didn’t belong on her. This bubbly cheerful girl he had known for a few days, this smile didn’t belong on her face. It shouldn’t have been there. Yet it was. 

“It was about a day before you found me in that old shopping mall. We had decided to stop in this town overnight before continuing on our journey, I was supposed to be collecting some food supplies along with Aster. It was my idea to stop overnight, but the designated driver, Nicholas wanted to carrying on going. He kept insisting that we needed to get to the North, all the way to Canada for crying out loud! The less time we wasted, the less time it took to get there. Of course I argued back saying that we needed to stop. Nicholas had been driving for two days without any sleep. For an older guy he really isn’t that sensible. Everybody wanted to leave at that point even Aster, he had been on lookout saying that the town looked dangerous and we should move on.”

“Of course being the idiot I was, I just said he was being paranoid and that I would go look myself and they could just leave if they didn’t want me anymore because I was done with them and would make my own way across the country. It wasn’t like I did anything for them, I was probably a burden but they refused to give up on me but why would they leave?”

Why would they leave? That question hung heavy between them. Jack knew why people left, he had already learnt that lesson. Tooth was probably just learning it but he was feeling a emotion that he hadn’t felt for a very long time albeit it was only a small sliver. A sliver of hope. Maybe her friends had left for a very good reason and had left clues to their whereabouts. 

“Well they must have let clues. Let’s just go and look at this campsite.” Jack said and Tooth lead the way. It took them a lot longer than it should have been because of Tooth’s injury but eventually they arrived on some disturbed grass. 

There wasn’t much except for a few bits of litter and tyre tracks over in the right corner where some trees were. Jack headed over to the tyre tracks and bent down letting his fingers trace over the dusty mud. 

“It looked like they went out of here in a hurry.” Jack said standing up and walking to the end of the tracks. “What sort of car do they have?”

“Just a pickup truck, I don’t know anything about cars so I don’t know what make. What’s this got to do with anything anyway?” 

“It would explain why half of those trees are trampled over,” Jack pointed to a big dip where serval trees were bent backwards. “My guess is that they were trying to avoid something and wanted to go the long way to get to the road.” 

“So they went somewhere but where?” Tooth muttered heading over to the trees. 

“I don’t think they left any notes or anything. If my guess is correct Tooth then they’ve probably fled to the next town. They might have come back whilst you were missing or are still over there waiting for you. I mean it’s a one in a million chance but I suppose it’s our best chance.”

“So we go to the next town?”

Jack nodded. “And we can get you back with your friends and you can go off with them.”

“And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“What are you going to do? Are you going to stay on your own? Are you on your own? How long have you been on your own?” Tooth inquired.   
“Does it matter?” Jack snapped. 

Tooth was quiet and didn’t reply back for some time. Jack felt a little guilty, it hadn’t meant to snap but she didn’t need to worry about him. He just needed to get her to friends and then all of this hassle could be over.

“We should start walking to the next town.” Jack said looking back at the road.

“Yeah I guess, it might be a little slow though because of my leg.”

“It doesn’t matter, come on.” Jack ushered her along and the two of them started their journey to the next town.

*  
It was about a week later when they arrived and they were running dangerously low on supplies. They had managed to ration a few things that Tooth had in her bag but all they had between the two of them was half a bottle of water and a few cans of beans.

Tooth’s leg was a lot better and she was able to walk a little bit but there was still a hint of a limp. Jack had opted to carry her a few times but she had just protested. It had been a rough journey for the two of them, Jack’s nightmares had continued and his silence as well so the two of them had been limited with conversation. 

As the two of them approached the town. Jack took in his surroundings. This town was quite small, they were many cars littered across the road and boarded up shops down the sidewalks. There didn’t seem to be any zombies roaming about which was quite strange. On the road here they had run into a few of them that Jack had to shoot with a rifle. It had created a lot of noise and so they had to bolt on quite a few occasions. 

“It’s so quiet.” Tooth whispered afraid that if she spoke normally she might disturb something. 

“I know but it’s not a good sign.” Jack commented, looking again around at the town. Something just felt off about the place. 

“Why wouldn’t it be a good sign? There’s nobody around. No zombies either. I doubt we’ll be undisturbed.”

“Haven’t you learnt anything? Just because it’s quiet, it doesn’t mean there’s nobody around. They’re probably just hiding. We’re going to have to be careful when getting some more supplies.”

“Okay then Mr Know it all! I’ve been in towns a lot quieter than this and nothing ever happened there so I think we’re fine.” Tooth raised her voice and it almost sounded like she was shouting.

Jack froze when he heard some glass shatter and he turned back to Tooth and placed his hand over her mouth.

“See?” He whispered. “Someone was probably watching us. There’s an old shop boarded up on the left. We’re going to go in there to see if we can get any food but we’re going to have to be silent and that means no talking, okay?” He removed his hand and Tooth nodded.

The two of them tried to be as silent as possible as they snuck across to the shop. Jack kicked the door down with all his might and the boards collapsed onto each other. Tooth was quite surprised that he had a lot of strength in his body despite his thin frame.

A cloud of dust billowed out onto Jack and he began to cough as he forced himself inside. Tooth followed shortly after.

Inside the shop wasn’t much. The shelves had been emptied a long time ago but what remained were a few cans and Tooth even managed to find some water that actually looked like it would be drinkable. They went to the back of the shop and Tooth saw something that caught her eye. 

“Jack, come over here!” She called.

“What?” Jack mumbled bending down to see what it was that she had in her hand. 

It was a bottle of wine, the label had fallen of so he didn’t know what brand it was but it was unopened. The green bottle’s liquid swirled around as Tooth turned it over.

“Do you think we should take it? We could have a treat tonight.” 

“We’re underage.”

“Underage? Underage in what society? The world’s gone to shit Jack. I don’t think laws apply anymore.” 

Jack scoffed. “Fine I guess we can have some but first we need to find if your friends are in town.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Tooth clapped her hands as she passed the bottle to Jack. Jack was about to put it into his backpack when he heard a noise and a young boy’s voice say.

“You need to leave.”


	5. Companionship

Companionship

"Gone, what do you mean gone?" Jack asked.

"I went to look into their camp but the car's not there, there's no tents either just trash." Tooth replied, avoiding Jack's gaze.

"Is this some sort of trick?" Jack said standing tall. He had thought that she had been different but had she just been using him? Were her friends lying in wait to steal his supplies?

"No, what are you talking about?" Tooth asked, this time she looked at him. Her eyes were swollen and tears were still flowing. Jack felt like crying with her too then. He had never seen anyone look so lost, it reminded him of his past self just after the zombies had arrived. However he was still unsure, this could be still a ruse! She was acting, he was sure of it! Why would she come back to him? Nobody ever came back to him.

"A trick. You're friends are waiting to ambush me aren't they?" He spun around looking over at the bushes. "Well I'm waiting! Come and get me you fuckers!" He shouted breathing heavy. If it was a fight they wanted, they were going to get one!

Nobody came screaming out of the bushes. It was quiet, the same eerie quiet it had been for four years. The only real sound came from Tooth hobbling over to him. Jack let her come close to him, he wanted to see if they were still waiting for their chance.

Tooth looked up at him and sighed, she reached up and cupped his cheek. Jack tried to flinch away but Tooth kept her hand cupped onto him.

"Jack," She let out a deep breath. "Nobody's going to attack you. I'm not pulling any tricks, you can come back with me and check the campsite for yourself. I don't know what's with the sudden change of attitude and I'm judging by the reactions you're not going to tell me. All I'm asking that you believe in me."

Jack was quiet for a few moments and then with the two of them standing on that dirty dusty road with the morning sun glaring down on them, Tooth her hand still on Jack's cheek, Jack made a choice. He looked down and nodded. "Okay I will." He had broke another one of his rules.

"See? That wasn't so bad! You do need to be more trusting of people. My friends would never ambush you anyway! They are some of the loveliest people I met. Of course I didn't know them before everything started but they've helped me so much. So I just don't understand why they would leave. Or maybe it did affect them that much…" Tooth sighed, wiping a few tears away with her hand. She had now moved away from Jack and her back was facing him.

"Maybe they left clues at the campsite, it might explain where they went. If you say you were as close as you were then there must have been a very drastic reason as to why they left you behind."

"I don't know Jack. After the way I treated them, I don't think anyone would want to talk to me again."

"Would you tell me what happened?" Jack asked, wishing that he could put his hand on her shoulder. He wanted to comfort her but he couldn't. He still needed to protect his third and final rule. He would not allow himself to get close to her. He may have chosen to trust her but he was still going to distant himself from her. She didn't need to know about him, he wasn't important.

"I guess I should, I did ask you to believe in me. So I might as well tell you the whole truth." Tooth turned around and smiled a sad smile that Jack thought didn't belong on her. This bubbly cheerful girl he had known for a few days, this smile didn't belong on her face. It shouldn't have been there. Yet it was.

"It was about a day before you found me in that old shopping mall. We had decided to stop in this town overnight before continuing on our journey, I was supposed to be collecting some food supplies along with Aster. It was my idea to stop overnight, but the designated driver, Nicholas wanted to carrying on going. He kept insisting that we needed to get to the North, all the way to Canada for crying out loud! The less time we wasted, the less time it took to get there. Of course I argued back saying that we needed to stop. Nicholas had been driving for two days without any sleep. For an older guy he really isn't that sensible. Everybody wanted to leave at that point even Aster, he had been on lookout saying that the town looked dangerous and we should move on."

"Of course being the idiot I was, I just said he was being paranoid and that I would go look myself and they could just leave if they didn't want me anymore because I was done with them and would make my own way across the country. It wasn't like I did anything for them, I was probably a burden but they refused to give up on me but why would they leave?"

Why would they leave? That question hung heavy between them. Jack knew why people left, he had already learnt that lesson. Tooth was probably just learning it but he was feeling a emotion that he hadn't felt for a very long time albeit it was only a small sliver. A sliver of hope. Maybe her friends had left for a very good reason and had left clues to their whereabouts.

"Well they must have let clues. Let's just go and look at this campsite." Jack said and Tooth lead the way. It took them a lot longer than it should have been because of Tooth's injury but eventually they arrived on some disturbed grass.

There wasn't much except for a few bits of litter and tyre tracks over in the right corner where some trees were. Jack headed over to the tyre tracks and bent down letting his fingers trace over the dusty mud.

"It looked like they went out of here in a hurry." Jack said standing up and walking to the end of the tracks. "What sort of car do they have?"

"Just a pickup truck, I don't know anything about cars so I don't know what make. What's this got to do with anything anyway?"

"It would explain why half of those trees are trampled over," Jack pointed to a big dip where serval trees were bent backwards. "My guess is that they were trying to avoid something and wanted to go the long way to get to the road."

"So they went somewhere but where?" Tooth muttered heading over to the trees.

"I don't think they left any notes or anything. If my guess is correct Tooth then they've probably fled to the next town. They might have come back whilst you were missing or are still over there waiting for you. I mean it's a one in a million chance but I suppose it's our best chance."

"So we go to the next town?"

Jack nodded. "And we can get you back with your friends and you can go off with them."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"What are you going to do? Are you going to stay on your own? Are you on your own? How long have you been on your own?" Tooth inquired.

"Does it matter?" Jack snapped.

Tooth was quiet and didn't reply back for some time. Jack felt a little guilty, it hadn't meant to snap but she didn't need to worry about him. He just needed to get her to friends and then all of this hassle could be over.

"We should start walking to the next town." Jack said looking back at the road.

"Yeah I guess, it might be a little slow though because of my leg."

"It doesn't matter, come on." Jack ushered her along and the two of them started their journey to the next town.

It was about a week later when they arrived and they were running dangerously low on supplies. They had managed to ration a few things that Tooth had in her bag but all they had between the two of them was half a bottle of water and a few cans of beans.

Tooth's leg was a lot better and she was able to walk a little bit but there was still a hint of a limp. Jack had opted to carry her a few times but she had just protested. It had been a rough journey for the two of them, Jack's nightmares had continued and his silence as well so the two of them had been limited with conversation.

As the two of them approached the town. Jack took in his surroundings. This town was quite small, they were many cars littered across the road and boarded up shops down the sidewalks. There didn't seem to be any zombies roaming about which was quite strange. On the road here they had run into a few of them that Jack had to shoot with a rifle. It had created a lot of noise and so they had to bolt on quite a few occasions.

"It's so quiet." Tooth whispered afraid that if she spoke normally she might disturb something.

"I know but it's not a good sign." Jack commented, looking again around at the town. Something just felt off about the place.

"Why wouldn't it be a good sign? There's nobody around. No zombies either. I doubt we'll be undisturbed."

"Haven't you learnt anything? Just because it's quiet, it doesn't mean there's nobody around. They're probably just hiding. We're going to have to be careful when getting some more supplies."

"Okay then Mr Know it all! I've been in towns a lot quieter than this and nothing ever happened there so I think we're fine." Tooth raised her voice and it almost sounded like she was shouting.

Jack froze when he heard some glass shatter and he turned back to Tooth and placed his hand over her mouth.

"See?" He whispered. "Someone was probably watching us. There's an old shop boarded up on the left. We're going to go in there to see if we can get any food but we're going to have to be silent and that means no talking, okay?" He removed his hand and Tooth nodded.

The two of them tried to be as silent as possible as they snuck across to the shop. Jack kicked the door down with all his might and the boards collapsed onto each other. Tooth was quite surprised that he had a lot of strength in his body despite his thin frame.

A cloud of dust billowed out onto Jack and he began to cough as he forced himself inside. Tooth followed shortly after.

Inside the shop wasn't much. The shelves had been emptied a long time ago but what remained were a few cans and Tooth even managed to find some water that actually looked like it would be drinkable. They went to the back of the shop and Tooth saw something that caught her eye.

"Jack, come over here!" She called.

"What?" Jack mumbled bending down to see what it was that she had in her hand.

It was a bottle of wine, the label had fallen of so he didn't know what brand it was but it was unopened. The green bottle's liquid swirled around as Tooth turned it over.

"Do you think we should take it? We could have a treat tonight."

"We're underage."

"Underage? Underage in what society? The world's gone to shit Jack. I don't think laws apply anymore."

Jack scoffed. "Fine I guess we can have some but first we need to find if your friends are in town."

"Sounds like a plan!" Tooth clapped her hands as she passed the bottle to Jack. Jack was about to put it into his backpack when he heard a noise and a young boy's voice say.

"You need to leave."


End file.
